Maritime News

Maritime News

Maritime news articles about every aspect of the industry, including ports, container and breakbulk lines; and ships and ship chartering. Coverage also includes the impact of recent industry mergers and acquisitions, and of emerging new technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things.

From the largest container lines such as CMA CGM, MSC (Mediterranean Shipping Co.) and Maersk Line to smaller carriers such as Eimskip and Atlantic Ro-Ro Carriers, JOC.com covers the entire industry with unequaled intelligence, data, insight, statistics, and analysis. JOC.com regularly updates its proprietary data about the activity of largest ports, container lines, breakbulk lines and other stakeholders in the maritime shipping sector,

News & Analysis

Shippers in the trans-Pacific should brace for a confusing fourth quarter as carriers in October file low-sulfur fuel surcharges customers will have to pay in November and December. Those interim fees will be replaced by permanent floating surcharges effective Jan. 1.

Many shippers have created their own bunker adjustment factors (BAFs), but smaller beneficial cargo owners typically have to accept the BAFs proposed by ocean carriers. However, widespread distrust of the carrier fuel surcharge mechanism may have the effect of pushing more shippers towards coming up with their own BAF formula to have greater control of a process.

While Loadsmart is far from the only startup to take on the idea of automating certain parts of the truck brokerage business — Convoy, Transfix, and Uber Freight are the most notable names in this movement — the former has been on a different growth path.

The Container Shipping Lines’ Association of India, in its latest report to the Ministry of Shipping, argued that cabotage relaxation has paid off with significant transshipment gains for Indian ports during September.

The Eagle GO Guaranteed Service — targeting shippers willing to pay premium rates for a faster and guaranteed service that provides a complete refund if the ocean carrier fails to meet the delivery date — will expand from 29 Asia ports to 150 Asia and Middle East ports.

As uncertain as trans-Pacific rates have been, they are up 56 percent to the West Coast and 67 percent to the East Coast, compared with early Oct. 2017. However, more price volatility is anticipated as the peak season ends, importers prepare for the Chinese New Year, and proposed 25 percent Trump administration tariffs take effect on Jan. 1.

China’s government has invested billions in the China-Europe rail network, and volume, propelled by subsidies, has surged. However, those subsidies have created other downsides for shippers and the broader market.

A survey conducted by global shipping consultancy Drewry found considerable unease among global shippers and forwarders ahead of the low-sulfur fuel implementation. Concern was expressed by respondents about ocean carriers’ methods of fuel cost recovery with more than half, 56 percent, stating that they did not consider their service providers’ existing approaches as either fair or transparent.

The port and government officials have created an advisory committee, called the North Atlantic Marine Highway Alliance, to stimulate barge use and reduce truck traffic and the pollution and congestion it creates.

Further, two key decision-makers, one each from the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach, agreed that the early building of peak-season inventory this summer will be followed by slower growth in the fourth quarter of the year.

The ocean carrier found that existing rules regarding the stowage of dangerous goods cargoes, which create their own oxygen and can’t be extinguished using standard carbon dioxide-based on-board firefighting equipment, to be inadequate and has implemented new procedures across its fleet.

The new bunker fuel adjustment factors will provide more insight concerning whether ocean carriers can recoup what they argue are increased operational costs for bunker fuel and for meeting the Jan. 1, 2020, low-sulfur mandate.

Non-vessel-operating common carriers have come to the rescue of beneficial cargo owners seeking better service guarantees and lower rates from ocean carriers they have contracted with for Asian imports.

It is one of the ironies of container shipping. While the container may be one of the world’s greatest universal standards, creating untold benefits to trade and prosperity, the process of standardization around the movement of the container remains woefully incomplete.

However, analysts and stakeholders say shippers should not focus on the rate drop, but rather, they should prepare for unprecedented turmoil in the eastbound Pacific that is affecting cargo loading at Asian ports and delivery and storage in the United States.

Already chaotic and upended, the Trump administration’s proposed Jan. 1, 2019, 25 percent tariff on imports from China is causing importers to scramble for ocean, truck, and rail capacity — with the next ramification being the warehouse variable: will there be any space after the front-loading of imports?

Estimates on the cost of the container shipping industry meeting the mandate range from $5 billion to tens of billions of dollars, but ocean carriers are uniform regarding one aspect of this substantially higher cost.

As with other ocean carriers, rising bunker fuel prices weighed on CMA CGM’s second-quarter results. Even so, its CEO and chairman remained positive regarding 2018’s second half, citing the rise in freight rates and sustained volumes, in addition to the quality of its service offering.

Electronic seals are considered tamper proof and, as such, the new process enhances supply chain security. In addition, as the process eliminates the need for physical, on-site inspection by customs officials, it can reduce shipper logistics costs.